2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs Blog - Conference Finals

Carolina winger Tuomo Ruutu participated in the Hurricanes’ game-day skate and could return for Game 3 at the RBC Center Saturday night.

Ruutu missed Game 2 of the 'Canes Eastern Conference final against the Pittsburgh Penguins because of a reported ankle injury suffered in the series opener.

Coach Paul Maurice declined to say whether Ruutu will dress for Game 3, but seemed encouraged by what he saw.

“He got through the morning skate,” Maurice said. “We’re pleased with how that happened, but we’re going to bring him back tonight and see if there’s an increase in swelling.

“He’s going to make a good decision. We’ve set the guidelines for what he needs to be able to do to say that he can play in our lineup.”

Ruutu didn't speak with reporters after the morning skate.

High stakes affair

The Game 3 stakes are pretty obvious: If Pittsburgh wins on Saturday, it has a 3-0 lead and a virtual guarantee of returning to the Stanley Cup final. If the Hurricanes prevail, the series if back up for grabs.

Not surprisingly, the Penguins expect Carolina to compete with the desperation of a team fighting to save its season.

“They were more physical and crashed the net more in Game 2, and I expect them to be a more physical and desperate team [in Game 3],” defenceman Hal Gill said. “They're going to do everything they can to be even more physical and be in our face."

Staal held off scoresheet

Carolina centre Eric Staal is tied for ninth place in playoff scoring with 14 points and sits fourth in goals with nine, but has only two assists in the last five games.

Not surprisingly, his inability to have much of an impact on the scoresheet during Games 1 and 2 in Pittsburgh drew some criticism, but Staal said he has to guard against focusing on that at the expense of other facets of his game.

“If I’m scoring goals and helping offensively, there’s a better chance we’re going to win the game,” he said.

“I know that. But I can’t change my game, I can’t get frustrated. We’ve proven we can win games without me scoring a goal, or scoring a point.”

Carolina forward Chad LaRose, who got a goal in each of the first two games, said the Hurricanes are confident Staal and linemate Ray Whitney – who has gone nine games without a goal – will produce in Game 3.

“I'm sure they’ll be great,” LaRose said. “They’ve been great for us all playoffs. I’m expecting nothing less. … I don’t think they should feel too much, but they’re veteran players.

"They’ve been there before. They know what it takes. They’re not squeezing their sticks too tight.”

Maurice concurred, and said that Staal routinely puts more pressure on himself than any coaching staff could.

“He handles the pressure of being that [go-to] player for us very, very well,” Maurice said. “And we think so much of him because he’s always elevated his game.

"He’s always been able to do it, as all great players do. So we have confidence in him.”

High praise for Hurricane fans

Pittsburgh right winger Bill Guerin broke into the NHL in 1992, so he’s experienced the atmosphere not only in the league’s current venues but in some storied buildings – like the Montreal Forum, Chicago Stadium, Boston Garden – that aren’t around anymore.

It is significant, then, when he says that the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C., ranks among the loudest buildings in which he has worked.

“It’s way up there,” he said. “It’s top five, for sure. That place is nuts. It really is.”

Asked what ranks No. 1, Guerin said: “Edmonton in the playoffs. Nothing beats that. Well, maybe Chicago Stadium. There was nothing like that. But Edmonton in the playoffs was probably the loudest.”

Maurice said that when the Hurricanes’ home crowd gets revved, “you can feel it on the bench, you can feel it in the glass,” and that the decibel level can make it impossible to communicate with the players on the bench, let alone officials on the ice.

“That makes it a challenge sometimes, getting the next three guys off the bench,” he said. “The other [coach] knows who you’re playing, because you have to tap them on the back to get them off your bench.”

Pittsburgh experienced loud arenas in series against Philadelphia and Washington during the first two rounds.

But volume aside, the Penguins say crowds at the RBC Center won’t be mistaken for those at the Wachovia Center or Verizon Center because there’s less hostility directed at visiting teams.

“When you’re in Philly, you get the feeling like they’re really angry,” forward Craig Adams said. “In Raleigh, they’re just good people and really supportive of their team. They’re not so much out to get the other team.”

Of course, that could change if the Eastern final goes on long enough, and the nerves of all concerned get sufficiently frayed.

“I don’t think there’s that hatred,” Guerin said.

“But there could be.”

Havlat hit a hot topic

Niklas Kronwall’s crushing hit on Chicago winger Martin Havlat during Game 3 of their Western Conference final on Friday was a popular topic of conversation at Saturday’s morning skates.

One of the most interesting perspectives belonged to Maurice, even though he declined to say whether he believes the hit was clean, or whether Detroit's Kronwall deserves to be punished by the league.

Fact is, that might be what made Maurice’s take on the situation so intriguing.

“I think it’s going to draw enough attention from the National Hockey League that my opinion probably doesn’t need to be thrown in,” he said. “A lot about [the hit] was good and a lot about it was … the end result wasn’t.

“I think assessing that is a challenge. People will argue both sides, and I really think that making those decisions and how to eliminate the result is a very, very difficult problem that we have in our game.

“Hitting is a good thing. I don’t think there was any intent, other than the hit. But the result, nobody wants to see that. I’m sure that’s true of Kronwall. So how does that change? I don’t have an answer.

“What we’d all have preferred is that Marty Havlat pop back up and [fans] went, ‘Wow, what a battle. What a game.’ But he didn’t. And there’s the problem.”